A Briton, thought to be a woman, has died and "a small number" of UK nationals were being treated in hospital on Madeira tonight, as the British government "strongly advised" holidaymakers to contact tour operators or airlines before travelling to the island.

The Foreign Office said last night that the victim's family had been informed. "We are not able to release any further details at this stage," a spokeswoman said. Sources said the dead Briton was a woman in her 50s.

The FO said it was monitoring the situation closely and "providing consular assistance to a small number of British nationals who have been hospitalised".

Peter Ramos of Cruz de Carvalho hospital, in Funchal, said three of 120 patients treated there on Saturday had been British. One woman remained in hospital with multiple injuries and two men had been discharged. "Four people in a taxi were hit by floods," he said. A reporter from the Diário de Notícias newspaper reported coming across a British tourist north of Funchal who had jumped from a taxi and was desperately looking for his wife.

British holidaymaker Cathy Sayers said Funchal was like a ghost town. She told the BBC: "The drains cannot cope with the water that's coming down from the mountains – they are overfilled with sludge."

The former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett, who is also on Madeira, called weather "really wild". She said: "One of the staff here said that in 46 years' working in the same place he had never seen seas like it or winds like it."

Martin Hellier, from Yeovil, told the BBC he had been trying to contact his parents who live 20 miles west of Funchal in Ponta Do Sol. "We haven't heard from them. We think they cannot get to a phone."

Thomson and First Choice, which have about 1,300 holidaymakers between them on Madeira, said flights to the island would continue. They said resort staff were working hard to ensure that customers were kept well informed. All had either been spoken to directly or accounted for.

Six return flights were due to leave from London, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Exeter and Bournemouth tomorrow. "We would advise customers to contact their travel insurers if they want to cancel."